Who after Hegde? Vexing question that is giving us the jitters

Guess what’s worrying the people of Karnataka these days. That the term of the highly popular Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde will end in August. This pro-people crusader has been relentlessly fighting corruption in the corridors of power, unearthing ill-gotten wealth, and taking on the high and mighty. He is bold, upright and accessible.

Most citizens prefer approaching him directly with complaints as they know they will get justice. No other Lokayukta in the country has been so active. One other crusader who comes to mind is Hegde’s predecessor, Justice Venkatachala, who, in fact, set the tone for proactivity, though both differ in approach.

Those at the helm will be happy to see the back of Hegde. But the common man will be crestfallen. He has been vocal in his criticism of the system, lack of powers to prosecute the corrupt, and failure of the government to meet his various demands. One has lost count of the corrupt elements he has trapped so far. Their unaccounted-for wealth and property runs into crores of rupees. A senior minister in the Yeddyurappa cabinet was forced to quit recently as the Lokayukta tightened the noose around his neck over land scams. The sad part is that most of these worthies escape punishment, thanks to an insensitive government. Often, they are soon back at their old jobs and to their old bad ways.

Who after Justice Hegde? Will the existing government, which is facing allegations of nepotism and corruption, appoint someone as proactive as him? Highly unlikely. The government would like to have someone it can armtwist. BJP functionaries have already started a campaign. Party boss Nitin Gadkari says Hegde is exceeding his brief and functioning like opposition parties. “Though one should appreciate his work, he cannot be going public on all issues. Every state has a Lokayukta, but I have not seen anyone (like Justice Hegde) who goes to the media,” he adds. Incidentally, Gadkari has given a clean chit to chief minister Yeddyurappa, though he faces accusations of denotifying land to favour his close family members. Will he approve of another strong Lokayukta?

Justice Hegde is fed up. He regrets he listened to BJP supremo K Advani and withdrew his resignation a couple of months ago. He recalls that the same Gadkari came to his house asking him to reconsider his decision to quit. “If I had quit, everything would have been hunky-dory for them,” he says. Hegde knows his term will end soon.

But he is not someone to take things lightly. He wants to finish investigating existing cases with him, including those involving bigwigs, and ensure that justice prevails. “The Lokayukta is constituted to ensure good governance… I will be an opposition party to any government. I do it in public interest,” he adds. Can anyone fault Justice Hegde on this?

Isn’t it sad that Karnataka has plummeted to a new low in terms of corruption and nepotism? The high court itself has, in a scathing observation, voiced the widely held view: “We have taken judicial note of the fact that all land acquisition officers and sub-registrars are corrupt. Barring a few exceptions, all special DCs in Bangalore are corrupt to the core. This is the public perception. These people are conveniently protected.” In fact, Bangalore has sped ahead of other cities in the country to top the chart and leads the tally on www.ipaidbribe.com website with 259 bribe reports about the revenue department alone. It scores from among 200 cities, followed by Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. Isn’t it shameful?

Karnataka needs more Justice Hegdes. To cleanse the state of the menace called corruption.

Parting Shot

Confused Congress

The Congress in Karnataka is in a fix. It needs the JD(S) to fight the BJP, but it doesn’t trust the father-son duo of Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy. It wants to escalate attacks on the BJP over scams, but worried whether an overdrive will generate sympathy for the saffron party. For every step forward, it has been taking two steps backward. Caught in its own chakravyuh.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Author

H S Balram is former resident editor of The Times of India, Bangalore. Apart from ideating and innovating for the paper, he closely watches political developments. His weekly column is widely read for its insightful and often incisive analysis. He has over 35 years of experience in journalism, in various capacities.

H S Balram is former resident editor of The Times of India, Bangalore. Apart from ideating and innovating for the paper, he closely watches political develo. . .